Grand Chain

Neil Gow's Farewell to Whisky - the lyrics

You've surely heard o' famous Neil,
The man that played the fiddle weel,
I wat he was a canty chiel',
And dearly lo'ed the whiskey, O!
And ay sin' he wore tartan trews,
He dearly lo'ed the Athole brose;
And wae was he you may suppose,
To play fareweel to whiskey, O.

Tho' I can get baith wine and ale,
And find my head and fingers hale,
I'll be content, tho' legs should fail,
To play fareweel to whiskey, O.
But still I think on auld lang syne,
When Paradise our friends did tyne,
Because something ran in their mind
Forbid, like highland whiskey, O.

We later find that tune he played: "Farewell to Whiskey. by
Niel Gow", Gow's Strathspey Reels, bk. 5 (1809). It appears the
tune had been pretty well known for some time before the Gows
published it, and Niel's reputation as a tipler was well known,
too.